Page 9 of Unbreak Me

It was a set of only basic information, such as height, weight, marital status—meaning how many contracts they had previously, whether they had children, how many, and their education, profession, plus fertility status. Any other potential health issues were also listed. Omegas who couldn't havechildren had a red ‘X’ lit up at the bottom of the board, visible from afar.

As I walked along the section, I noticed on one of the boards a red X. I raised my eyes to that omega, and I was speechless.

The guy looked like an odd one out here. His board indicated that he was 42 years old and had only one contract previously. A rarity! On top of that, this omega looked very youthful despite his age and was incredibly attractive. His clothes stood out, looking tailor-made, very luxurious. He had long black hair, bright-green eyes, regular, sweet facial features, and full, perfect lips! His body was slender and small. For a second, our eyes met, but the omega immediately looked away!

Yeah, he wasn't interested… in abeta.Nothing new here.

I figured that having that sign indicating infertility made his chances slightly lower than the rest, but on the other hand, it was compensated by the fact that he was so incredibly attractive. So someone could still be interested in him, and not everyone wanted children anyway, especially when they were over forty.

As I passed by, I read his name (the surname was hidden): Darien.

I didn't even check the prices of his contracts. He wouldn't want me anyway.

Walking through the entire aisle of omegas aged between 35 and 45—sadly, no omega caught my eye except for this one; Darien ‘the beauty’, as I nicknamed him. But I didn't even want to bother him, he turned away his face just… a tad too quickly. On top of that, I didn't feel a 'spark' between us that I was hoping for.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the courage to approach any other board and start studying it more carefully, as it felt too stressful. However, I could observe how it worked in a real situation. I noticed an alpha who approached the board of a short omega around 37 years old.

The alpha stopped close to it and unfolded a list with prices for contracts with various lengths of the marriage period.

The omega looked at him, and I observed how intensely he stared at the alpha when the man read the information. I imagined myself in that situation, approaching one of the glass booths and studying the content of the information board while the omega… studies me.

Does he grimace? Maybe he frowns with reluctance and disapproval.

Surely, that would be the case with me—a beta—in their eyes.

Just the thought of it made my cheeks flush and my insecurities surface, so I quickly backed away, leaving that alpha to his fate.

However, as I hurriedly withdrew, at one point, I realized that I had retreated into the aisle where the omegas from Section C were grouped, all of them between 30 and 35 years of age, which was definitely beyond my budget range. Here, contracts started at a million dollars even for the shortest one-year version. I had no business in this place, but to back out of the aisle, I had to traverse it, and as I walked, I noticed a rather unusual phenomenon…

One of the omegas was smoking in his booth!

An unexpected sight, considering the universal smoking ban in the hall. Seeing a contractee disregarding this basic rule, surely couldn’t attract anyone to buy his contract? Or…

Yes, admittedly I was somewhat shocked by his blatant disrespect, but at the same time, I felt a strange shiver down my spine, as if something icy were about to touch me.

The man sat reclined in the armchair with his head tilted back, staring at the ceiling, deeply inhaling smoke from the cigarette, indifference painted on his face. He just didn’t care.What an interesting attitude in a place where all the other omegas tried to present themselves in the best light possible.

Strangely fascinating.

And on top of that, he didn’t seem conventionally attractive—or definitely not enough to make up for his behavior. He was very thin, appearing almost emaciated, with a narrow, pale face and wire-framed glasses. He looked as though he hadn't planned to attend the fair at all but had simply gone out for a casual stroll with his dog, dressed in a cheap sweater and sweatpants.

The sight was so unusual that I slowed down to glance at his board, but of course, as I walked, I couldn't look at it closely, so I reduced my pace even more, tempted to read the details there… but then, he must have noticed it out of the corner of his eye; he lowered his gaze from the ceiling, and our eyes met.

Boom.

Suddenly, I felt a powerful tremor in my body, mixed with a violent wave of stress. It was almost like getting hit on the head or splashed with a bucket of hot water. Fuck, I had to steady myself because I literally wobbled.

Narrowed eyes tracked my every move.

Well, since he was already looking at me, I might as well just… read the damn board!

Stress, panic, embarrassment—and whatnot. Probably an overreaction.

I stopped and leaned over it, shivering slightly but trying to look casual and avoid glancing in his direction.

The board displayed:

?Name and surname: Day ********

---